Wingfoiling - Progression in the first 10 hours (Gong HIPE First 5’11 kit)

[@Bham67]

Thank you. I'm 56 years old and want to learn how to wing this summer. I was curious what to expect and this is helpful. I've done water skiing and snowboarding in the past...maybe that will help a small amount. Seems about like learning to ride a bike or play guitar....very frustrating at first, but if you keep trying it doesn't take long for it to start becoming fun.

[@michaelbilson6776]

So pleased I watched this , my first 3 sessions made me think I would never get to grips with foiling. Now after watching this , I'm going to keep at it. Thank you.

[@eddifileddifils3544]

Hi, if you're interested... I started this summer with the gong beginner kit, 5 size sail, 5.11 board and 1900 foil and it was really frustrating. It was very difficult to manage to fly well enough and furthermore I can only fly on right tack while there is still no question of gybing. Then I was lucky because I practiced most of the time in Porto Pollo in Sardinia where from 1 August 2024 to the 27th the wind always blew above 13 knots, therefore very friendly for a beginner. I have to say that wingfoiling was the hardest thing I've done in my life. Before this I had never windsurfed or surfed but I know the winds as I have practiced sailing with some drifts. Greetings to everyone from Italy. The important thing is not to get discouraged because at the beginning there is a lot of discouragement. If you can, buy a large sail and a large foil. At the beginning, what matters is flying

[@Dwangwa0]

Great video Simon... I have just received my Gong Hipe First and looking forward to session one!!

[@clemhamon1935]

I had my third session last week, it amazing how the first fly make you forget all the previous frustration.

[@TylerKaraszewski]

This is a good video. I remember going through the same thing. I could kitefoil before I started wingfoiling, and so once I got up on foil, it was not too hard, and very similar to kitefoiling, but the water start was very difficult. Now I'm doing the whole process over with dock starting.

[@simon-surf]

Thank you so much for your comment. I’m wondering, how is the dock start coming at all? Is it hard to learn compared to wing foiling?

[@TylerKaraszewski]

@@simon-surf I've put up some videos. I feel it's harder to learn at first than wingfoiling, but if you stick with it you'll start to make progress after a few sessions.

[@rogerleischner1972]

Appreciated your summary story, friend! I am just getting my starter kit now!!!

[@martynholder1971]

Simon, you look great, l have many years of windsurfing and 16 years of kitesurfing. But have failed so far with winging. The biggest problem is the time between sessions in your video you said how many hours out but not over how many months, my water is a sailing club on a reservoir that never gets good wind, and its at least 90 miles to any other water none being learner safe

[@simon-surf]

Absolutely agree! Time between sessions is a big factor. My 6 sessions has taken place over a period of 2 months approximately. The last 3 session within 2 weeks 😀

[@CWIno1]

😊 Super video Simon .. 😁 Jeg har lige erhvervet sådan et Gong HIPE First 5’11 og det er kanon at se det ikke er helt umuligt at komme i gang med TAK 😃...og som dig har jeg surfet i en del år så jeg glæder mig til at komme i gang 😃 kan være vi ses der ude

[@djscottyb_texas]

I am 55 years old and ordered my 1st foil setup 2 days ago. I can't wait to get it, but I hope I have the endurance to pull it off. I have surfed, I still skateboard, water ski, roller blade and hope these things will come into play. I also sail with a Hobie Adventure Island sail kayak so I know how to work the wind. Thanks for setting my expectations.

[@simon-surf]

Hi Scott. Based on the activities that you already do I would for sure reckon that you will be able to learn winging foiling, with a fast pace! I wish you the best progression into this fantastic sport. Btw. I just had session number 30, and I can tell you that unless you keep pushing yourself in new environment such as swell and waves, it will get a lot easier on the body. I started exploring sailing with a harness after session 15 also. I think I could get through entire sessions with a heart rate of 120-140 bpm in average.

[@djscottyb_texas]

@@simon-surf Thanks for the comment. I added the harness to my order when I placed it. I figured less stress on my upper body. I'll post my progress when I get it next week. I am in North Texas so no surf for me. Just lakes for now.

[@blubbpaste]

💀 I needed something around 23 sessions to learn how to foil without falling

[@jlampe64]

Thank you for your video. I am 60, with skiing, snowboarding, SUPing and windsurfing experience. I do not have problems with up to 30 knots wind on windsurf, like on Karphatos but still think that wing foil will be a huge challenge :-) Just bought Gong 5.3" with 5m2. Hope will survive 😅.

[@frebo8921]

Exactement mon équipement de l'année dernière pour débuter 😊 Le premier vol controlé est inoubliable ! Je vous souhaite une bonne progression, j'ai appris à 64 ans, pas de problème si vous êtes sportif. Être ancien windsurfer aide à comprendre le vent, la difficulté vient du contrôle du foil.

[@Wingfoilenleren]

We use the 6.6 for teaching, perfect setup 👍

[@vnybjerg]

Ville en 5’5 ikke passe bedre? Når jeg regner på det er 135 liter alt for meget og burde være tættere på 110 liter board. Jeg er selv 80 kg og tænker at købe en 5’5, dog er jeg ret høj - 195 cm og ved ikke om det kan påvirke perfomance på et mindre board? God video!!

[@kenholmdal]

Fedt at se. Tak fordi du deler. Har selv samme begynder setup. Nogen lunde samme begyndelse for mig men fik en skade (på land) efter træning som satte en stopper for min træning. Håber snart at kunne komme igang igen med session 4 😊

[@simon-surf]

Jeg synes det er et rigtig godt setup at starte på! Og i forhold til windsurfing, hvor jeg fylder en hel bil med boards, sejl, master og 1000 småting, er det ret fedt blot at tage afsted med en taske i bagagerummet. Øv med skaden! Håber hurtigt du får mulighed for at genoptage. Der går også lidt lang tid imellem mine sessioner på grund af små børn og travlhed, men synes nu ikke at det har påvirket fremgang i mellem sessions.

[@kenholmdal]

Har nu fundet ud af at mit udstræk medførte til en blodåre kollapsede. Gudskelov har jeg trænet det op så jeg kan wingfoil igen. Har lige bestilt en curve xxl

[@CroLarus]

Nice videos! Is it Rise or X-Over and what size? Just for fun...do you think it is possible to somehow "strap on" WS base on board and lift sail-will board survive load or it is too soft...and, do you think 6.6 will be better for this? (We have same weight and WS skill) (Of course, I'm not speaking about serious WS foiling...just to try it...)

[@philledille]

Great and inspiring video Simon! I'm just looking to buy the Gong HIPE First kit. One question left in my mind - would you say it's harder with an inflatable board than with a hard board? Thanks again.

[@simon-surf]

After around 40 sessions, I tried a rigid board for the first time. Definitely pros and cons of each technology. I found the rigid board a bit easier to pump out of the water also, when in full speed, I find the rigid board a bit more stable, on the other hand when you start learning, you fall a lot. The inflatable ones don’t hurt so much when you fall onto them. I don’t think I would start with a rigid board if I had the chance to do it all over again. Inflatable technology these days are pretty solid.

[@philledille]

@@simon-surf Thanks Simon for your insight. I'm shopping for the Gong noob kit now!

[@volkerzdun8762]

Hi Simon which Garmin watch do you have? Great Videos for beginners 🤙

[@simon-surf]

🙏🏻 thanks! I have Garmin Fenix 7 SS edition 🤙🏻

[@djnur]

hola, que psi recomiendas para el wing de 5m? nice videos.🙌🙌🙌

[@CP-or5xm]

Compliments Simon!!! I also have a Gong First, but in size 5.7 and only rode on my knees in the first session. Which spot are you wingfoiling on the sea or lake?

[@simon-surf]

Sea :)

[@hanslaught2351]

Do you think windfoil experience would reduce the time to get to going one way or the other consistently like that? I'm not too bothered about the time, as I'll want to try wingfoiling eventually, but it would be a push to get me to do it earlier if I know it'll be a fast transition. Interesting about the heart rate. I sit at around 100 bpm for windfoiling average (I'm 32, 64 kg), and windsurfing 160, so sounds like wingfoiling would be kind of an in-between thing and a bit harder than I expected. I really thought wingfoiling was supposed to be more chill than windfoiling.

[@bensens]

Fino. video. Kan se af nogen af de første sessions er Blå Flag Ebeltoft samt hullet. Utroligt så hurtigt du kom i gang. /Bensen

[@simon-surf]

Yes, 2 sessioner i Ebeltoft og 4 ved Hullet. Jeg tror dette begyndersæt har været det helt rigtige for mig. Boardet er stabil, og det hele hænger godt sammen størrelsesmæssigt. Jeg læser med på din blog, og overvejer om jeg også skal kaste mig over lidt windfoil, som jeg aldrig har prøvet. Eller om det ikke rigtig har sin plads hvis man windsurfer og wingfoiler? Hvad tænker du?

[@bensens]

Min plan er WIND-foil i let vind, og WING i højere, men kun haft en session,- også grundet skade/Bensen@@simon-surf

[@JoepS-zj6nh]

Which size foil did you use?

[@pacoweisz]

hi. do you know how much does it weigh?

[@simon-surf]

The board? Or the whole kit?

[@burmy1552]

Give yourself credit. It's gotta be hard to learn in 8-10 knots.